‘Human Being’ Isn’t A Good Flavor

Sequels, reboots, and remakes are a tricky thing. If done correctly, you have a wonderful thing on your hands. By way of an example I recently saw Man Of Steel, the reboot of the dying Superman franchise. Suffice to say it restored my faith in Superman as a viable source of Hollywood production value. Remakes as of late have been shaky. I could give a long list of remakes that failed such as Dukes Of Hazzard, The Green Hornet, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and more of the like. I won’t, though.  Why? Simply because some remakes are pretty decent. Dallas does pretty good, evoking the spirit of the classic primetime soap opera. 

Today I am talking about sequels, specifically album sequels. Jay-Z has done well in this respect. Each Blueprint album has done really well. The same can be said of protégé Kanye West with The College Dropout, Late Registration, and Graduation. This list also includes Bun B, Fabolous, and a few others who escape me right now.

Then we speak on Lil’ Wayne.

He has given us great music within his career. His sequels have been pretty consistent. Tha Carter, Tha Carter II, Tha Cater III (my personal favorite), and Tha Carter IV have been hailed as masterpieces. Don’t even get me started on his Tha Drought mixtape series.

I cannot include I Am Not A Human Being in here. I hated most of the tracks on this effort simply because they weren’t that good in my humble opinion. Plus the song “Gonorrhea” turned me off in general. It was meant to be clever, I guess. To me it came off as coarse. The only redeeming parts of the album were the infectious “I’m Single” and the Drake assisted “Right Above It”.

Oddly enough I had a similar thought on I Am Not A Human Being II. Although the thoughts are the same, it’s for a different reason.

Look, we’re all adults here so allow me to say this: Lil’ Wayne says the word pussy too much for the album to be anything other than an exercise in sexual braggadocio. I have no problem with him saying how skilled he may be at cunnilingus but saying EVERY song cheapens it quite a bit.

The production is sound but it is ruined by Wayne’s metaphors and overly sexualized lyrics. The best example of that is “IANAHB”. The piano laden track is amazing up until he [Wayne] starts rapping.

Usually I give you a few songs that stand out to me in these reviews. For the first time I can’t do that. What I can do is tell you what songs attempt to save this album.

“Rich As Fuck” is catchy as all hell. It includes a lot of the usual Wayne fare. What really saves this song for me is the production by T-Minus and Nikhil S. as well as 2 Chainz on the hook. Beyond that, I really don’t have much good to say.

“Love Me” is similar in many of the same ways. There is amazing production, this time from the highly popular Mike WiLL Made It and A+. The beat alone will make your head nod. Features also do their part to soften the blow to your ears. The duo of Drake and Future sing the hook well. This song includes one of the most confusing rap lyrics I’ve come across in a while. Here it is:

Pussy ass nigga, stop hating/ Lil Tuenchi got that fire/These hos love me like Satan

I have a million dollars for the person who can explain that line to me. Please, someone…anyone.

All things considered, this album isn’t my favorite (or really that great save those two songs). I imagine this one is like caviar or escargot-an acquired taste.



Written by Lucius Black for Royalty Magazine